Rural Teacher-Leader Professional Development for English Learners in an Anti-Immigrant Climate

Ongoing teacher professional development (PD) is a cornerstone of education across the US. However, teacher and educator PD programs that aim to support immigrant English Learners (ELs) face the added challenge of a sociopolitical climate and anti-immigrant rhetoric. We describe one rural educator teacher PD program and the challenges faced in the current context. Using a framework of critical consciousness, we describe how the program was transformed from one to prepare teacher-leaders to one that aimed to include and address issues of equity and justice. We also describe the transformation of a parent engagement component of the PD that prioritized the lived experiences of immigrant EL parents.